Posted on 03/07/2020 10:08:49 AM PST by EyesOfTX
The leftist publication The Nation often publishes very interesting analysis pieces. One such piece ran on Friday. Titled “‘This Was a Grift’: Bloomberg Staffers Explain Campaign’s Demise,” the piece written by Ken Klippenstein makes for some very fascinating reading.
Klippenstein had access to several Bloomberg staffers who confirm the thesis that I laid out in the Campaign Update of February 22: That Bloomberg’s decision to enter the Las Vegas debate despite the fact he was not participating in the Nevada Caucuses was a strategic blunder that ultimately proved fatal.
Klippenstein not only traces the implosion of Mini-Mike’s failed effort to that debate, but to the moment when Elizabeth Warren slammed his very poor and public record of dealing with female employees:
…according to nearly a dozen members of his campaign staff, the former New York City mayor’s presidential dreams really died when Elizabeth Warren eviscerated his record on live television during the February 19 debate in Las Vegas.
Not a single Bloomberg staffer that I spoke to was surprised by the campaign’s implosion. Speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisal and because of the campaign’s nondisclosure agreements—which The Nation obtained a leaked copy of in February—campaign employees cited that bruising debate as well as a general lack of enthusiasm for Bloomberg among the staff as main factors ending his presidential run.
“Ever since the first debate all of us faced a ton of hostility [when knocking on] doors…and could hardly get any volunteers,” one field organizer told me. “I once had a woman chase me back to my car demanding that I say you can’t buy the presidency.”
[End]
Now, here’s part of what I wrote in that Feb. 22 piece:
Using the RCP aggregate of betting odds as a primary gauge, the disastrous debate showing by Mr. Excitement, Mike Bloomberg, last Wednesday is going to have a major negative impact on his polling numbers and, by extension, on his ability to accumulate votes and maybe even win a state or two in the March 3 Super Tuesday primaries.
Just nine days ago, The Commie held a shaky 5-point lead over Mini-Mike in this important gauge of public sentiment, with Sanders pulling in 39% of the money being bet and Mr. Excitement 34%. That Commie lead began to expand, though, as video after video began to surface of Mini-Mike making horrific public statements offending all manner of traditional Democrat interest groups. By the time debate day came around, the Sanders lead had grown to 17 points.
In the three days since Bloomberg’s Vegas Waterloo, the bottom has dropped out. The Commie’s support has jumped up over 50% for the first time, while Mr. Excitement has crashed down to 22%. It is very likely that that near-30% gap between the two will only expand after Sanders scores what is going to be a big winning margin in the Nevada caucuses.
Before that debate took place, Mini-Mike had actually moved into slight polling leads in both Oklahoma and Arkansas, and was becoming competitive in a couple of the other Super Tuesday states, based solely on the strength of $300 million spent on TV and social media ads. In polling released over the next 7-10 days, we will likely see those leads go poof!, as the impacts of his debate catastrophe begin to show up in the polling data.
I told you on Wednesday morning that there was no possible benefit for Bloomberg to appear in that debate: He wasn’t even on the ballot in Nevada – why take the risk of having exactly the horrific debate performance he in fact had? And there was no way this near-terminally boring old man who hadn’t participated in a debate setting in a dozen years was going to have a good night against a pack of desperate animals who have been doing nothing but debating and running their mouths for almost a damn year now.
[End]
Back to Klippenstein’s piece in The Nation:
Several members of the campaign described Bloomberg’s debate as the beginning of the end. As another field organizer put it, “The people who liked Mike initially didn’t care about the sexual [harassment] allegations or stop and frisk, but they got turned off because they thought he made himself look weak and that he had let Warren walk all over him.”
…
A third staffer also said that the debate marked a turning point, after which phone calls with voters became more difficult. “The day after [the debate] when we made calls people were like, ‘Oh yeah, I was thinking about him [Bloomberg], but I’m not really sure anymore.’”
Bloomberg’s performance, specifically his handling of Warren’s questions, even alienated the campaign’s volunteers. Of the volunteers that quit, one campaign employee told me, “Just about every one of them said it was because of the debate performance or the NDA scandals.”
[End]
Klippenstein’s piece also goes into detail about how Bloomberg staffers, seeing the handwriting of Bloomberg’s impending doom clearly written on the wall, actually used Mini-Mike’s tons of money to actively campaign for Sanders and other Democrat candidates leading up to Super Tuesday. It’s a fascinating piece that everyone should go read. Warning: you’ll have to spend $1 for a 24-hour access to The Nation’s website to do it, but I found it well worth the price.
That is all.
Too many people don't understand the difference between tactics and strategy. This decision should be fairly described as a tactical blunder, not a strategic blunder. The result is the same, but how we describe it is important. This was a decision made as things were changing dynamically, and it was a tactical blunder.
Bloomberg’s decision to enter the Las Vegas debate despite the fact he was not participating in the Nevada Caucuses was a strategic blunder that ultimately proved fatal.
The Finger Licking Video would have killed him a week later anyway.
That’s usually the case when you have all the personality of a turnip.
Eventually he would have had to address the American people.
Malignant Narcissism will do that to a guy.
Speaking of debates, the one-on-one Biden vs. Bernie debate(s) should be interesting. The question is how hard is Bernie willing to hit ‘cause hands-off ain’t going to cut it. Biden has Forrest Gump-ed his way into the driver’s seat, and Bernie ain’t going to dislodge him by playing nice. It all depends on whether he’s truly in it to win it, I guess. Stocking up on popcorn...
I am pretty sure it was the people who watched the debate, not the staffers, who confirmed the death knell.
He over saturated with the advertising. And his ads where really, really awful; Mike standing at a podium in front of a green screen audience of NPCs acting like he was giving a speech. Laughably bad stuff.
bernie will roll over just like he did for cankles
Doomberg, I guarantee you, is on the phone right now to someone in his billionaire club blaming, "Those goy in Texas. F'em."
Yeah. Trump found Mini-Mike amusing. You could tell from his reaction that he was playing with him. Bloomberg was out of touch, and had the problem that he was everything the Rats accused Trump of being.
Your point on Sanders is interesting. He rails against the establishment, and speaks with great anger, but ultimately he's a paper tiger.
The thing that would hurt Sanders in the general election is the Rats won't stuff ballot boxes for him. The "moderate" Dems = "principled" conservatives = uniparty. The uniparty saw what happened when Trump took over the republicans. They can have a "principled" conservative meeting in a Waffle House now and have three booths left over.
The Rats don't want to lose control of their party to the voters, just like the George Wills and Paul Ryans lost it for the Republicans.
I suspect that you’re right but we’ll see. Bernie is 4 years older and this is his last shot. It’s now or never. If he pulls his punches, gotta figure that he’s been bought off.
Bloomberg was not accustomed to being challenged by someone not wanting his money!
Once it's learned you have a price, the rest is just negotiating.
Bloomberg sure loves nondisclosure agreements!
bwahahahahahahaha
Nah. His lack of effort to even marginally prepare, coupled with his epic weakness, was his downfall. But I’m thinking he never intended to be a serious challenger anyway.
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